Assisted suicide now legal in Netherlands
April 1, 2002 -- Euthanasia becomes legal in the Netherlands today, a year after parliament voted to make legal a practice that has been tolerated in the country for at least two decade. Anyone from the age of 12 on may request assistance from doctors with suicide. Rules governing the practice say people must "face a future of unbearable, interminable suffering and must make a voluntary, well-considered request to die," according to Reuters news service.